Improvement in mouse-traps



o. s. wATHuu's.

Mouse-Traps.`

am I i UNITED STATES PATENT QEETCEc OLIVER S. WATROUS, OF UNIONVILLE,OONNEOTICUT.v

IMPROVEMENT IN MOUSE-TRAPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,432, dated August25, 1874; application filed June 2, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER S. WATRoUs, of Unionville, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Mouse-Traps,

A of which the following is a specification, refer- Amouse-traps,whereby the mouse is made to spring the trap as he pushes for the bait.

The letter a indicates the common wooden block forming the body of thetrap; b, the

common spring-saddle, and c the common In almost all the varieties ofmouse-traps of this general nature heretofore in use the bait has beenplaced at the lower end of a trippingwire, the upper end of which hasbeen made to catch upon the spring-saddle when the trap has been set,and the mouse had to pull on the bait to spring the trap. Often the baitwould pull oli' the hook without springing the trap, and sometimes nopull a' mouse could i give would spring it. I avoid these difficultiesby putting the bait on the hook d at the rear of the hollow space e',always made in the under side of the trap, and then so adjusting the trip-Wire 'c that a push upon its lower end will spring the trap. Thistrip-wire is pivoted on the cross-wire f, and the upper end is so hookedas t0 point to the rear, so that it requires a push inward upon thelower end to trip the hook and spring the trap.

I prefer that the lower end of the trip-wire should be looped, as shown,so that, when the mouse goes for the bait behind it, he will attempt topush through the loop, and thus spring the trap; but this is notabsolutelyl essential.

l I claim as my invention- The combination of the block a, thespringsaddle b, choker c, trip-wire e, looped at the bottom, and made totrip by pushing inward, and the bait-hook d, separate from and behindthe trip-wire, all combined and arranged to operate substantiallyasshown and described.

OLIVER S. WATROUS.

Witnesses:

l E. SnvioNDs, JOHN POLLITT.

